How does the Jewish Agency help Jewish people around the world connect and reconnect with their Jewish identity and with the Land of Israel?
Rationale:
I chose to do my research project about the Jewish agency, because of my older sister, who is doing shlichot through the Jewish Agency in Berkley, California. I hope that learning about the Agency will help me feel more connected to her and help me understand what exactly she is doing there.
History:
The Jewish Agency took a big part in the establishment of Israel. When the British Empire controlled Israel, the Agency made us ready to have our own government. They themselves acted like a government. They were responsible for donations; they sent new immigrants to settlements, which eventually decided the borders of Israel.
At the 16th Zionist Congress, on August 11th, 1929, the Jewish Agency was established with cooperation and partnership between the World Zionist Organization and non-Zionist Jewish leaders. With the establishment of the Agency, all Yishuv [the name given to the Land of Israel following the earliest Zionist activities until statehood] activities and operations moved from the World Zionist Organization to the Agency and the WZO remained involved as a policy maker.According to the Jewish Agency website, “For 82 years, the Jewish Agency for Israel has been synonymous with the efforts to rescue Jews at risk and the resettlement of the Jewish people in its homeland. The history of the Jewish Agency in the pre-state era is inseparable from that of the Yishuv.” [“The Jewish Agency for Israel- Decades of Service to the Jewish People”]
After the State of Israel was founded, the management of Israel transferred to the government. Since then, the Agency’s focus has been aliyah, absorption, Jewish Zionist education, strengthening Israeli society, and settling the land.
The Jewish Agency today:
Today, the Jewish Agency, based in Israel, is Zionist a worldwide volunteer organization. It is funded by Jewish donors from around the world that want the Agency to continue to operate and help Jews in Israel and in Diaspora.
By bringing Jews to Israel, their bonds and connection to Israel and to their Jewish identity is strengthened. The Agency has made a huge change in Jews lives all over the world. It says in the Jewish Agency Today that, “In addition to extensive programs in Israel, it operates in close to 80 countries on five continents through a network of over 450 emissaries, including hundreds of formal and informal educators.” [“The Jewish Agency Today ”, 4] The Agency is working on uniting all the different types of Jews and hoping for a partnership between them.
For the past few years the Agency focuses on three main activities:
Encouraging the Jews around the world to make aliyah and assisting in their absorption:
Since Israel’s establishment, over 3 million Jews from all around the globe have made aliyah [immigrated to Israel] with the help of the Agency. It is in charge of initial absorption, which means helping with housing, welfare, education, and strengthening the relationship between the olim [new immigrants] and Israelis. The Agency also operates 35 absorption centers which help provide for 10,000 olim their first home in Israel, four youth Aliyah villages with over 1,000 residents, and special programs for individual olim.
The Agency is committed to facilitating Aliyah because, as it says in their website:“For Israel to survive and flourish as a Jewish, democratic society, aliyah remains imperative. Israel must become home to MORE Jewish people. That’s why the Jewish Agency will always remain committed to aliyah—a core value of the Jewish people.” [“Aliyah”, 1.]
Decreasing the gaps-
The Agency invests a great deal of time and resources in decreasing the social gaps in Israel. It is in charge of five therapeutic youth villages, for youth-at-risk. The villages supply the youth with a normal, safe and supportive environment. A lot of the youth in these centers are olim. In addition for the past few years, the Agency has been focusing on developing the Negev, Jerusalem and the Galilee, because these are areas of national priority. It has also been involved in promoting the creation and expansion of 30 out of the 60 newest communities in the Negev and Galilee. As noted in an article in Partnerships with Israel, “As social gaps in Israel continue to widen, the Jewish Agency is addressing gross disparities in economic and geographic advantage, in education and equal opportunity.” [“Partnerships with Israel”, 1]
The Agency operates programs whose goal is to promote equal educational opportunities for all members of the Israeli society, and to develop young leaders in different communities, so that in the future we will have strong and confident leaders.
In 2008, the Jewish Agency was rewarded the Israel prize for lifetime achievement for the special contributions to the society and country.
Zionist education-
The Jewish Agency focuses on Zionist education for Jews around the world in a number of ways. One of them being sending shlichim [The plural for shaliach which means messenger in Hebrew] to help Jews all around the world connect with their Jewishness, and shlichim from Israel can help make that happen. Usually, the shlichim have served in the army or national service and speak English (or whatever the local language is) well. They come wanting and willing to help and to give the campers an idea about Israel through a variety of educational activities and experiences. These shlichim are highly valued in the camps and their contribution is tremendous.
The reason the Jewish Agency is so focused on educating the next generation is because, as they say in their website: “If we are counting on the next generation to lead us into the future, then we need to put Israel into their lives.” [“Jewish- Zionist education”, 1]
The Jewish Agency has a lot of different types of shlichim, one of them being the areivim shlichim [a translation of “kol Israel areivim zah lazah” – “all Jews are mutually responsible, one for another”] which is an educational shlichot.
The Jewish Agency has three types of areivimshlichim whom they send abroad:
Community shlichim: The shaliach works with the community directly. With the kids, youth students and adults. The shaliach’s job is to provide the community with a taste Israel, to organize educational and Jewish activities [according to the time of the year] and to encourage people to visit Israel. The shlichot is for at least a year and it can be extended for longer.
Hillel Shlichim: Shlichim serve on college campuses and are involved in many areas of Jewish students’ university life and experience, especially focusing on Zionist and pro-Israel activities and awareness. The shlichot is for at least a year and it can be extended for longer.
Youth movement Shlichim: These shlichim work directly with and through any number of Zionist youth movements (Bnei Akiva, HaBonim, Young Judea, etc.) helping the staff organize and plan Israel-oriented activities. The shlichot is for at least a year and it can be extended for longer.
The Agency also sends shlichim for a short period of time: camp shlichim- for the past 40 years, the Agency ran over 200 summer camps all over the world which invite Israeli shlichim each year to participate, totaling almost 1,700 Israeli shlichim.
The Agency is also involved in both formal and non-formal educational activities in Israel. Thousands of young Jews take part in and visit Israel through Birthright-Taglit and/or Masa.
Taglit- Birthright Israel programs: a 10 day educational trip in Israel for Jews from ages 18-26. Jews from all over the world get to come to Israel for free. One of Taglit’s primary donors is the Jewish Agency. The trip includes visiting important sites in Israel’s history [The Kotel, Yad Va’Shem, etc.], meeting with Israelis their age and with soldiers from the Israeli army.
Birthright’s goal is, as they say in their website, “to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.” [Taglit Birthright Israel, “about us”, 1]. Taglit research shows that it succeeds and fulfills its goals since the majority of the Jews who visit Israel through Taglit hope to stay connected with Israel. Through Taglit, 23,000 Jews, from 52 different countries, visited Israel, and thousands of them live today in Israel.
MASA: offers over 160 long-term programs in Israel for Jews ages 18-30, from around the world. The programs last from a semester to a year, and they include learning and volunteering. MASA’s goal is, as it says in their website: “To build a lasting relationship with Israel, strengthen their Jewish identity, and gain meaningful and beneficial experiences” [MASA: gateway to long-term Israel programs, “what is MASA”, 1] MASA was established in 2003 with the help of the Jewish Agency.
After reading about the Jewish Agency, and working on this project, I can truly say that I am inspired and impressed. I never know how much the Jewish Agency did, and does for Israel and the Jewish people. Now, that I am going to visit my sister who is doing shlichot through the Agency in Berkeley, California, I can finally fully understand how much she is contributing to her community.
Profile
Rationale:
“I chose to do my profile about Bruria Rabinovich because I have heard about what she does in the community and I wanted to know more about her.”
Bruria Rabinovich You can't meet Bruria Rabinovich and not think that she is an inspiring figure. From the first moment I walked into her house, I couldn't stop thinking how amazing she was. When we got to her house she offered us cookies [which were really good], and we went to visit her mother whom she visits every day even though she is very busy.
Rabinovich is a part time teacher in the elementary school Asai Chayil and in the high school, Derech Avot, both in Efrat. She is one of the founders of the ‘gmachim’ [acronym for the Hebrew word, gemilut chasidim (in plural): community charity foundation] center in Efrat, Yad b’Yad. She is in charge of Yad Sara [center for the borrowing of medical equipment] in Efrat and of the wedding dresses ‘gmach’ [acronym (in single): a community charity foundation]. These are the things that she does that we know about, the ‘big’ things that she does, but from the conversation that we had, I realized that the really amazing things that she does, we don’t even hear about.
For example, over the past 14 years, she has given more than 700 lectures all over the country about her daughter, Dassi, who passed away 16 years ago on Rosh Hashana night when she was 19 after a long and tragic fight with cancer. Rabinovich lectures to a lot of different groups and talks about Dassi’s giving, about her happiness, and about her faith in G-d. When she was asked if it’s hard to keep talking about her daughter, she always says that it feels like it is her personal mission and she feels like she has to. “Dassi had so many messages to pass on. Messages that people could really relate to and that could help them. This is my way of continuing with her instead of dying with her. It makes me remember her, but in a good way. I’m not sad when I remember her, I’m happy, because I feel like she’s living, like she still has an influence on people.” Rabinovich adds.
http://www.wol.co.il/magazine/magpics/dasi.JPG
There are many programs in memory of Dassi Rabinovich. The Ministry of Education did a series of lessons about Dassi’s “Bubble of Joy”. The National Service wants to do something in memory of Dassi for all the girls that are going to work at hospitals. The meeting hall in Efrat’s Gefen neighborhood for the youth group of Bnei Akiva was built in her memory because she had been a participant and later a counselor in the organization.
Despite the fact that she is very busy, she finds time for what she believes is important. She believes that time is something you can create, something you decide if you have it or not, something you need to learn how to maneuver if you want to get everything done. “Sometimes when we think about all we need to get done, it seems like we don’t have enough time, but really all those things only take a minute or two. If you want to do and help, you can really feel like G-d’s assistant”. Says Rabinovich, “In the end, everything works out. And when you do something, no matter how busy you are, do it till the end, 100%.” Recently, Rabinovich has even started match-making and she has successfully introduced six different couples, three of them in Efrat.
When she has some free time, she likes to spend it with her family - with her mother and taking care of her 15 grandchildren with another one on the way. She has been happily married for past 38 years to Pini and they moved together to Efrat 26 years ago. A year later, she started running Yad Sara in the Rimon until it moved to Yad b’Yad, which Rabinovichand a couple of her friends helped create. 12 years ago they went to Eli Mizrachi, the former head of the Religious Council in Efrat, and told him that they were looking for a place to build a gmach. He said that his dream had always been to build a center of gmachim in Efrat, a place that had all the gmachim under one roof. What was needed was land to build on and funding.
Rabinovich suggested to Eitan Golan (of blessed memory), the mayor of Efrat at the time, that they build under the library, which was built on poles. It took time to raise the money needed and they were helped greatly by an anonymous donor who promised to double whatever money they raised. Rabinovich and her friends were able to raise $25,000 and with the help of their anonymous donor, raised the necessary $50,000. They finished all the paper work and were able to finally build the facility. In Yad b’Yad there are seven different gmachim:
A gmach for wedding dresses, which Rabinovich is in charge of.
Yad Sara, which is also under Rabinovich’s responsibility.
A gmach smachot for the borrowing of all equipment and accessories for celebrations.
Kitchen - people bring food for Shabbat for needy families.
A gmach for furniture and kitchen appliances and supplies.
A clothing gmach.
A gmach for borrowing everything for shiva (the seven days of mourning).
Yad b’Yad in Efrat isn’t like a lot of gmachim. First, all money that the gmachim make goes to charity. Second, every gmach has its own room and they try to make sure that it is clean so that people feel like they are going to a nice place. “It’s fun to go, because you feel like you are going to a respectable place and not into some dump. And every one can come.”says Rabinovich. She wanted it to be a place where people can donate things that they don’t need any more; a place where people who need things can come and pay a token cost for the things they need; a place that sells second hand products.
The way Rabinovich runs the wedding dress gmach is also like no other in the area. The gmach has more than 200 wedding dresses, all of them donated by brides from around the country. Also, the gmach isn’t advertised but operates by word of mouth. Knowing that women can get really nervous before her wedding, and the dress is a big part of the wedding and adds a lot of stress, Rabinovich has pleasant conversations with them about picking the right one. She chooses her words very carefully and tries to make sure that the women leave with a good feeling and not with a traumatic memory, often using some humor to try to calm them down.
Rabinovich alone manages the wedding gmach, but in Yad Sara she works with 12 volunteers, two for every day of the work week. If there is ever a problem, the volunteers turn to Rabinovich. The gmach is open in the evenings, from 19:00 till 21:00.
When Rabinovich was asked why she is so active, she laughed and said: “I never asked myself why I started. I guess I was always involved in something, always doing something. Ever since I was a little girl, I liked being active in community, in any way that I was able to…” Rabinovich also shared, “Why am I alive - to do things for others. I don’t think I would be able to live in an environment where everyone lives just for himself; I would just go crazy. When you help somebody else, even if for you it is really small, it could mean the world to somebody else…”
For the first 25 years of Bruria and Pini Rabinovich’s marriage and until his death, Pini’s father lived with them. He was a benefactor as well; he used to say that the Jewish people have three main characteristics, and one of them being gomlai chasadim. As a result, he would always tell his grandchildren [Rabinovich’s kids] that they should do chesed. And that is what every one of them did in their own way.
One of Rabinovich’s messages for today’s youth is that everyone can find his or her own path of doing (asiah in Hebrew). It empowers the “doer” as well as the people around him. And above all, it is imprinted into the Jewish people by the actions of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as in the Ethics of Our Fathers: “Say a little and do much” [Pirkei Avot, 1:15]
In the future Rabinovich thinks that she will stop teaching, although she loves kids, and maybe start working in family counseling with a particular Chasidic point of view, because sadly she has a lot of experience with loss, sicknesses, and coping. People today already contact her and ask for advice about how to deal with the challenges they face.
Personal Connection:
“If we can, we must” (Rav Kook)
I chose to do my personal connection as a collage of different youth groups in Israel. The reason for that is that youth groups, the Jewish Agency, and Bruria Rabinovich all share the goal of educating the next generation and helping in the community. In addition, while I was working on the first and second parts of this project, I was given the opportunity to be a counselor in a youth group (Bnei Akiva). I hope that I will be able to do exactly what the Jewish Agency does - educating the next generation, as well as what Bruria Rabinovich does – helping to build our community. After learning and writing about the Agency and Rabinovich, I feel like I am obligated to do something. Something that isn’t just for me, but for the people around me, to be a part of something bigger.
Notes:
Ben David, Lilach. Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2011 MASA. “MASA: gateway to long-term Israel programs”. Masa Israel journey the gateway to long term Israel programs. 2005. N.p. web. 11 Dec. 2011. MASA. “Our historic mission”. Masa Israel journey the gateway to long term Israel programs. 2005. N.p. web. 11 Dec. 2011. Taglit Birthright Israel. “about us”. Taglit Birthright Israel. 2011. N.p. web. 11 Dec. 2011 The Jewish Agency for Israel. “about us”, Summer camps. 11 Dec. 2011. n.p. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. The Jewish Agency for Israel. “Areivim”, 10 Dec. 2011. n.p. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. The Jewish Agency for Israel. “history”. The history of the Jewish Agency for Israel. 11 Dec. 2011. N.p. web. 7 Nov. 2011. The Jewish Agency for Israel. “our mission”, what we do- programs that support our mission. 11 Dec. 2011. N.p. web. 1 Nov. 2011. Wikipedia contributors. "Jewish Agency for Israel." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. תנועת העבודה הישראלית. "[ה]סוכנות היהודית". היסטוריה, מושגים. ל.ע. אינטרנט. 1 נוב'. 2011. Image:
The Israel council of youth movements (CYMI), “Beni Akiva Movement”. 17 Jan. 2012. איילים התיישבות סטודנטים ויזמים ע"ר. "הסוכנות היהודית". 11 דצמ'. 2011. אפרת מועצה מקומית, "מרכז 'יד ביד'". 8 ינו', 2012. אריאל- תורת חיים בעז, "אריאל". 17 ינו'. 2012. מועצה אזורית דרום השרון, "תנועת הנוער של האיחוד החקלאי". 17 ינו'. 2012. נשים ברשת, "דסי רבינוביץ". 8 ינו', 2012. עזרא, "תעודת זהות עזראית". 17 ינו'. 2012. צופים ברשת- תנועת הצופים העבריים בישראל (ע"ר), "ייעוד תנועת הצופים". 17 ינו'. 2012. תנועת בית"ר- מחזירים את הציונות לאופנה, "בית"ר ישראל". 17 ינו'. 2012. תנועת נוער מכבי צעיר, "מכבי צעיר". 17 יונ'. 2012 תנועות נוער, "הנוער העובר והלומד". 17 ינו'. 2012. תנועות נוער, "השומר הצעיר". 17 ינו'. 2012
Table of Contents
How does the Jewish Agency help Jewish people around the world connect and reconnect with their Jewish identity and with the Land of Israel?Rationale:
I chose to do my research project about the Jewish agency, because of my older sister, who is doing shlichot through the Jewish Agency in Berkley, California. I hope that learning about the Agency will help me feel more connected to her and help me understand what exactly she is doing there.
History:
The Jewish Agency took a big part in the establishment of Israel. When the British Empire controlled Israel, the Agency made us ready to have our own government. They themselves acted like a government. They were responsible for donations; they sent new immigrants to settlements, which eventually decided the borders of Israel.
At the 16th Zionist Congress, on August 11th, 1929, the Jewish Agency was established with cooperation and partnership between the World Zionist Organization and non-Zionist Jewish leaders. With the establishment of the Agency, all Yishuv [the name given to the Land of Israel following the earliest Zionist activities until statehood] activities and operations moved from the World Zionist Organization to the Agency and the WZO remained involved as a policy maker.According to the Jewish Agency website, “For 82 years, the Jewish Agency for Israel has been synonymous with the efforts to rescue Jews at risk and the resettlement of the Jewish people in its homeland. The history of the Jewish Agency in the pre-state era is inseparable from that of the Yishuv.” [“The Jewish Agency for Israel- Decades of Service to the Jewish People”]
After the State of Israel was founded, the management of Israel transferred to the government. Since then, the Agency’s focus has been aliyah, absorption, Jewish Zionist education, strengthening Israeli society, and settling the land.
The Jewish Agency today:
Today, the Jewish Agency, based in Israel, is Zionist a worldwide volunteer organization. It is funded by Jewish donors from around the world that want the Agency to continue to operate and help Jews in Israel and in Diaspora.
By bringing Jews to Israel, their bonds and connection to Israel and to their Jewish identity is strengthened. The Agency has made a huge change in Jews lives all over the world. It says in the Jewish Agency Today that, “In addition to extensive programs in Israel, it operates in close to 80 countries on five continents through a network of over 450 emissaries, including hundreds of formal and informal educators.” [“The Jewish Agency Today
”, 4] The Agency is working on uniting all the different types of Jews and hoping for a partnership between them.
For the past few years the Agency focuses on three main activities:
Encouraging the Jews around the world to make aliyah and assisting in their absorption:
Since Israel’s establishment, over 3 million Jews from all around the globe have made aliyah [immigrated to Israel] with the help of the Agency. It is in charge of initial absorption, which means helping with housing, welfare, education, and strengthening the relationship between the olim [new immigrants] and Israelis. The Agency also operates 35 absorption centers which help provide for 10,000 olim their first home in Israel, four youth Aliyah villages with over 1,000 residents, and special programs for individual olim.The Agency is committed to facilitating Aliyah because, as it says in their website:“For Israel to survive and flourish as a Jewish, democratic society, aliyah remains imperative. Israel must become home to MORE Jewish people. That’s why the Jewish Agency will always remain committed to aliyah—a core value of the Jewish people.” [“Aliyah”, 1.]
Decreasing the gaps-
The Agency invests a great deal of time and resources in decreasing the social gaps in Israel. It is in charge of five therapeutic youth villages, for youth-at-risk. The villages supply the youth with a normal, safe and supportive environment. A lot of the youth in these centers are olim. In addition for the past few years, the Agency has been focusing on developing the Negev, Jerusalem and the Galilee, because these are areas of national priority. It has also been involved in promoting the creation and expansion of 30 out of the 60 newest communities in the Negev and Galilee. As noted in an article in Partnerships with Israel, “As social gaps in Israel continue to widen, the Jewish Agency is addressing gross disparities in economic and geographic advantage, in education and equal opportunity.” [“Partnerships with Israel”, 1]
The Agency operates programs whose goal is to promote equal educational opportunities for all members of the Israeli society, and to develop young leaders in different communities, so that in the future we will have strong and confident leaders.
In 2008, the Jewish Agency was rewarded the Israel prize for lifetime achievement for the special contributions to the society and country.
Zionist education-
The Jewish Agency focuses on Zionist education for Jews around the world in a number of ways. One of them being sending shlichim [The plural for shaliach which means messenger in Hebrew] to help Jews all around the world connect with their Jewishness, and shlichim from Israel can help make that happen. Usually, the shlichim have served in the army or national service and speak English (or whatever the local language is) well. They come wanting and willing to help and to give the campers an idea about Israel through a variety of educational activities and experiences. These shlichim are highly valued in the camps and their contribution is tremendous.
The reason the Jewish Agency is so focused on educating the next generation is because, as they say in their website: “If we are counting on the next generation to lead us into the future, then we need to put Israel into their lives.” [“Jewish- Zionist education”, 1]
The Jewish Agency has a lot of different types of shlichim, one of them being the areivim shlichim [a translation of “kol Israel areivim zah lazah” – “all Jews are mutually responsible, one for another”] which is an educational shlichot.
The Jewish Agency has three types of areivim shlichim whom they send abroad:
The Agency also sends shlichim for a short period of time: camp shlichim- for the past 40 years, the Agency ran over 200 summer camps all over the world which invite Israeli shlichim each year to participate, totaling almost 1,700 Israeli shlichim.
The Agency is also involved in both formal and non-formal educational activities in Israel. Thousands of young Jews take part in and visit Israel through Birthright-Taglit and/or Masa.
Taglit- Birthright Israel programs: a 10 day educational trip in Israel for Jews from ages 18-26. Jews from all over the world get to come to Israel for free. One of Taglit’s primary donors is the Jewish Agency. The trip includes visiting important sites in Israel’s history [The Kotel, Yad Va’Shem, etc.], meeting with Israelis their age and with soldiers from the Israeli army.
Birthright’s goal is, as they say in their website, “to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.” [Taglit Birthright Israel, “about us”, 1]. Taglit research shows that it succeeds and fulfills its goals since the majority of the Jews who visit Israel through Taglit hope to stay connected with Israel. Through Taglit, 23,000 Jews, from 52 different countries, visited Israel, and thousands of them live today in Israel.
MASA: offers over 160 long-term programs in Israel for Jews ages 18-30, from around the world. The programs last from a semester to a year, and they include learning and volunteering. MASA’s goal is, as it says in their website: “To build a lasting relationship with Israel, strengthen their Jewish identity, and gain meaningful and beneficial experiences” [MASA: gateway to long-term Israel programs, “what is MASA”, 1] MASA was established in 2003 with the help of the Jewish Agency.
After reading about the Jewish Agency, and working on this project, I can truly say that I am inspired and impressed. I never know how much the Jewish Agency did, and does for Israel and the Jewish people. Now, that I am going to visit my sister who is doing shlichot through the Agency in Berkeley, California, I can finally fully understand how much she is contributing to her community.
Profile
Rationale:
“I chose to do my profile about Bruria Rabinovich because I have heard about what she does in the community and I wanted to know more about her.”
Bruria Rabinovich
You can't meet Bruria Rabinovich and not think that she is an inspiring figure. From the first moment I walked into her house, I couldn't stop thinking how amazing she was. When we got to her house she offered us cookies [which were really good], and we went to visit her mother whom she visits every day even though she is very busy.
Rabinovich is a part time teacher in the elementary school Asai Chayil and in the high school, Derech Avot, both in Efrat. She is one of the founders of the ‘gmachim’ [acronym for the Hebrew word, gemilut chasidim (in plural): community charity foundation] center in Efrat, Yad b’Yad. She is in charge of Yad Sara [center for the borrowing of medical equipment] in Efrat and of the wedding dresses ‘gmach’ [acronym (in single): a community charity foundation]. These are the things that she does that we know about, the ‘big’ things that she does, but from the conversation that we had, I realized that the really amazing things that she does, we don’t even hear about.
For example, over the past 14 years, she has given more than 700 lectures all over the country about her daughter, Dassi, who passed away 16 years ago on Rosh Hashana night when she was 19 after a long and tragic fight with cancer. Rabinovich lectures to a lot of different groups and talks about Dassi’s giving, about her happiness, and about her faith in G-d. When she was asked if it’s hard to keep talking about her daughter, she always says that it feels like it is her personal mission and she feels like she has to. “Dassi had so many messages to pass on. Messages that people could really relate to and that could help them. This is my way of continuing with her instead of dying with her. It makes me remember her, but in a good way. I’m not sad when I remember her, I’m happy, because I feel like she’s living, like she still has an influence on people.” Rabinovich adds.
There are many programs in memory of Dassi Rabinovich. The Ministry of Education did a series of lessons about Dassi’s “Bubble of Joy”. The National Service wants to do something in memory of Dassi for all the girls that are going to work at hospitals. The meeting hall in Efrat’s Gefen neighborhood for the youth group of Bnei Akiva was built in her memory because she had been a participant and later a counselor in the organization.
Despite the fact that she is very busy, she finds time for what she believes is important. She believes that time is something you can create, something you decide if you have it or not, something you need to learn how to maneuver if you want to get everything done. “Sometimes when we think about all we need to get done, it seems like we don’t have enough time, but really all those things only take a minute or two. If you want to do and help, you can really feel like G-d’s assistant”. Says Rabinovich, “In the end, everything works out. And when you do something, no matter how busy you are, do it till the end, 100%.” Recently, Rabinovich has even started match-making and she has successfully introduced six different couples, three of them in Efrat.
When she has some free time, she likes to spend it with her family - with her mother and taking care of her 15 grandchildren with another one on the way. She has been happily married for past 38 years to Pini and they moved together to Efrat 26 years ago. A year later, she started running Yad Sara in the Rimon until it moved to Yad b’Yad, which Rabinovichand a couple of her friends helped create. 12 years ago they went to Eli Mizrachi, the former head of the Religious Council in Efrat, and told him that they were looking for a place to build a gmach. He said that his dream had always been to build a center of gmachim in Efrat, a place that had all the gmachim under one roof. What was needed was land to build on and funding.
Rabinovich suggested to Eitan Golan (of blessed memory), the mayor of Efrat at the time, that they build under the library, which was built on poles. It took time to raise the money needed and they were helped greatly by an anonymous donor who promised to double whatever money they raised. Rabinovich and her friends were able to raise $25,000 and with the help of their anonymous donor, raised the necessary $50,000. They finished all the paper work and were able to finally build the facility. In Yad b’Yad there are seven different gmachim:
Yad b’Yad in Efrat isn’t like a lot of gmachim. First, all money that the gmachim make goes to charity. Second, every gmach has its own room and they try to make sure that it is clean so that people feel like they are going to a nice place. “It’s fun to go, because you feel like you are going to a respectable place and not into some dump. And every one can come.”says Rabinovich. She wanted it to be a place where people can donate things that they don’t need any more; a place where people who need things can come and pay a token cost for the things they need; a place that sells second hand products.
The way Rabinovich runs the wedding dress gmach is also like no other in the area. The gmach has more than 200 wedding dresses, all of them donated by brides from around the country. Also, the gmach isn’t advertised but operates by word of mouth. Knowing that women can get really nervous before her wedding, and the dress is a big part of the wedding and adds a lot of stress, Rabinovich has pleasant conversations with them about picking the right one. She chooses her words very carefully and tries to make sure that the women leave with a good feeling and not with a traumatic memory, often using some humor to try to calm them down.
Rabinovich alone manages the wedding gmach, but in Yad Sara she works with 12 volunteers, two for every day of the work week. If there is ever a problem, the volunteers turn to Rabinovich. The gmach is open in the evenings, from 19:00 till 21:00.
When Rabinovich was asked why she is so active, she laughed and said: “I never asked myself why I started. I guess I was always involved in something, always doing something. Ever since I was a little girl, I liked being active in community, in any way that I was able to…” Rabinovich also shared, “Why am I alive - to do things for others. I don’t think I would be able to live in an environment where everyone lives just for himself; I would just go crazy. When you help somebody else, even if for you it is really small, it could mean the world to somebody else…”
For the first 25 years of Bruria and Pini Rabinovich’s marriage and until his death, Pini’s father lived with them. He was a benefactor as well; he used to say that the Jewish people have three main characteristics, and one of them being gomlai chasadim. As a result, he would always tell his grandchildren [Rabinovich’s kids] that they should do chesed. And that is what every one of them did in their own way.
One of Rabinovich’s messages for today’s youth is that everyone can find his or her own path of doing (asiah in Hebrew). It empowers the “doer” as well as the people around him. And above all, it is imprinted into the Jewish people by the actions of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as in the Ethics of Our Fathers: “Say a little and do much” [Pirkei Avot, 1:15]
In the future Rabinovich thinks that she will stop teaching, although she loves kids, and maybe start working in family counseling with a particular Chasidic point of view, because sadly she has a lot of experience with loss, sicknesses, and coping. People today already contact her and ask for advice about how to deal with the challenges they face.
Personal Connection:
“If we can, we must” (Rav Kook)
I chose to do my personal connection as a collage of different youth groups in Israel. The reason for that is that youth groups, the Jewish Agency, and Bruria Rabinovich all share the goal of educating the next generation and helping in the community. In addition, while I was working on the first and second parts of this project, I was given the opportunity to be a counselor in a youth group (Bnei Akiva). I hope that I will be able to do exactly what the Jewish Agency does - educating the next generation, as well as what Bruria Rabinovich does – helping to build our community.
After learning and writing about the Agency and Rabinovich, I feel like I am obligated to do something. Something that isn’t just for me, but for the people around me, to be a part of something bigger.
Notes:
Ben David, Lilach. Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2011
MASA. “MASA: gateway to long-term Israel programs”. Masa Israel journey the gateway to long term Israel programs. 2005. N.p. web. 11 Dec. 2011.
MASA. “Our historic mission”. Masa Israel journey the gateway to long term Israel programs. 2005. N.p. web. 11 Dec. 2011.
Taglit Birthright Israel. “about us”. Taglit Birthright Israel. 2011. N.p. web. 11 Dec. 2011
The Jewish Agency for Israel. “about us”, Summer camps. 11 Dec. 2011. n.p. Web. 8 Dec. 2011.
The Jewish Agency for Israel. “Areivim”, 10 Dec. 2011. n.p. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.
The Jewish Agency for Israel. “history”. The history of the Jewish Agency for Israel. 11 Dec. 2011. N.p. web. 7 Nov. 2011.
The Jewish Agency for Israel. “our mission”, what we do- programs that support our mission. 11 Dec. 2011. N.p. web. 1 Nov. 2011.
Wikipedia contributors. "Jewish Agency for Israel." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Nov. 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2011.
תנועת העבודה הישראלית. "[ה]סוכנות היהודית". היסטוריה, מושגים. ל.ע. אינטרנט. 1 נוב'. 2011.
Image:
The Israel council of youth movements (CYMI), “Beni Akiva Movement”. 17 Jan. 2012.
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תנועות נוער, "השומר הצעיר". 17 ינו'. 2012